A/N: This has been VERY hard to write... actually, this isn't the only story I couldn't write in recently. I've been in a major emotional slump. Being 16 years old is not my cup of tea... but I've been slogging on through the teenage doo-doo... but, yes, there's a lot of speculation on what's going to happen to Sephiroth and Ansem... Sephiroth will seriously lose his cool...no lie! (And may I say, it's about...time?)
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Raven struggled uselessly, bound and gagged and secured across the riding saddle of the black dragon. The topaz lay dead, slain by a well-cast spell that sent its spirit straight to Hikaru's personal favorite version of hell. Whatever happened to it there was not his concern, but he derived awesome satisfaction from knowing it would suffer even if it had proved useful.
A dragon of this world's kind would not change simply by Hikaru's power alone. A dragon remained only as good or as cruel as its human, to which the winged firebreather was spiritually and psychicly bound.
It was the same with Raven's spirit. She not only writhed to be free, she strained against the distance that seperated her and her golden goddess. Ansem watched in helplessness as tears streamed forth from the woman's face, so strong a woman before now reduced to a weeping vagrant. Her black hair was in such disarray, her fine braids tangled and beads missing from her dark locks.
A stewing loathing began to curdle for the man that rode the black dragon, Hikaru - some deranged and unbeatable being that had probably been manipulating he and Sephiroth both since the beginning. Sephiroth had told him he was dangerous and powerful, but was he truly so? There wasn't an ounce of strength left for Ansem to cast any spells, much less any spirit stones. Hikaru had them all taken, and then had fed them with airy cheer to the dragon, which crunched the glowing stones between the diamond-like teeth and swallowed the magical essence.
Ansem wanted to ask Raven if everyone fed dragons spirit stones... but she appeared in no state of mind to entertain him with fun facts.
"Where are you taking us now, insensitive cretin?" Ansem spat instead, forced to cling to the riding straps that circled around Hikaru's legs to his back.
"To Sephiroth," Hikaru said boredly. "It's better if I just keep the two of you together just to shut you both up, than listen to either one of you bitch and complain about not having the other. However if you want me to leave him behind and keep him all nice and safe--"
"Don't play your goddamn games with me! What do you bloody want!?"
"I want nothing." Hikaru adjusted himself on the saddle, almost disturbing Ansem from his carefully observed balance.
"You must want something, man."
"No. I just like to kidnap otherworldly foreigners and keep them locked up in a basement so I can play with them for all eternity," Hikaru answered blithely, sneering in contempt. His yellow eyes matched the contained fury of the black dragon, which circled high above a grassy field, dotted with herding animals and tightly binded bales of hay.
Ansem took Hikaru's meanness for sarcasm and stared at the middle of his shoulders, strongly wishing he had something sharp and pointy to jab into them.
"Someday you'll understand," Hikaru replied with alarming softness. "You'll know... and then nothing else shall matter. In the scheme of things... you are like the spokes of the wheel. Without them, the wheel would crumble."
"And the center?" Ansem probed, shifting his grip to a tighter hold on the rear strap. "If I am the spokes, what does the wheel represent? What am I supposed to do?!"
Hikaru closed his eyes and shook his head. The black dragon suddenly made a jerk to the left and swung its head toward a village. Hikaru's sharp yellow gaze followed the dragon's and he smiled. "He didn't go very far, did he?"
Raven lifted her tear-stained face, merely sniffed and smiled. She spoke her dragon's name with difficulty, and Ansem percieved a very visual change in her as she relaxed her body and resisted no more.
"What are those people doing, I wonder?" Hikaru observed softly as he laughed, leaning forward and resting his cheek on the dragon's neck, peering down. Ansem looked, too, and nearly cried out with what he saw.
A circle of dragons, mounted by what appeared to be armed knights, walking Sephiroth through the village square, heralded by shouting and angry citizens. Varafel was chained to two tall stone pillars, about her neck and legs, though she did not appear entirely pleased with it.
"Take us down lower, damn it!" Ansem shouted, grabbing Hikaru's shoulders.
Hikaru threw his shoulder back with a snarl. "Damn it, have patience! Don't make me change my mind about your precious bedmate!"
Although Hikaru was a bit surprised Sephiroth hadn't begun hacking away at the soldiers yet. All the same, it wouldn't matter. As the black dragon swung down low to the large town square, the crowd made alarmed cries and shuffled to make room for the beast to land. Dust shot up into the air, stinging many amazed onlookers' eyes.
A dragon knight dismounted and approached Hikaru. "M-My lord! We had not expected you back so soon from your expedition! Are you well?" The knight eyed his cargo but otherwise made no comment.
"Of course I'm fine! My airship otherwise mangled past all function or recognition and every passenger dead, except for these two -- the very architects of my ship's demise! But I shall be taking care of them. And that man over there, too... release the golden dragon. She won't attack as long as I have her human."
"What?"
Another knight rose to take up the call. "Let him go!"
Sephiroth growled, shrugging off the guiding obtrusive hands of the other soldiers and stood near the foreleg of Hikaru's dragon.
"What do you want?"
"Sephiroth!" Ansem leaned over, but was painfully restrained by Hikaru's jabbing elbow.
"Get up here," Hikaru ordered as he motioned with his hand to come on up, for all the world like a disinterested parent. "Don't worry about weighing too much, you blundering idiot. Just shut up and do as I say. Please!"
Sephiroth hesitated, before the tall man reached up, gripping the saddle-horn in the back. He managed to find a space for himself, somewhere in between Raven's bound body and Ansem's back. Suddenly Raven slid off the saddle, rolling down the dragon's hind leg and smacking painfully against the ground.
"Get her to jail. For abetting the murderer of Vati Sorin. I don't what comes of her life. It's not my problem." Hikaru watched out of the corner of his eye the look of pain and rage that flickered over the pairs of faces that were behind him.
A moment later, with a sickening lurch, Sephiroth was once more thrown back in the saddle, digging his fingers into his companion's sides just to hold on. Soon, they were gliding on a stream of warm air, hundreds of feet above the ground that passed below them slowly.
Sephiroth's knuckled burned from the amount of pressure he was using to hold tightly. He relaxed reluctantly, leaning against Ansem, who in turn leaned back slightly. It felt remarkably better to feel him close. Slowly the golden-eyed man turned his head and pressed his cheek into his chest, where a warm wetness grew.
Silver hair streaming behind him, still covered in bits of straw, he moved his arm around Ansem's waist, holding him close. His eyes burned, too, but he said nothing. He stared his promise of death to the back of Hikaru's head. Thankfully Hikaru had nothing to say.
Burning questions, demands, angry curses crumbled to dust. He was tired... he was hungry, a terrible gnawing pain growing in his chest. But otherwise the only thing that kept him from losing hope was the silent affection and gladness that flowed out of Ansem.
* * * * *
In this world, Hikaru was to succeed Vati Sorin and was to become Vati Hikaru. The position gave him full power over most of the east continent, and provided him with the political power to slowly send this world straight to hell. Untold terrors would descend on this little realm of dragons... but first, to see to Ansem's fate.
Hikaru flew them over the fields, past the little hamlets peopled with those who could not govern themselves. He followed the Long Road to the Sagron Flats. Beyond those, in a vast range of canyons, lay the source of the Vati power... and also where the Door to this world lay, locked snugly within a towering palace that sank almost a mile underground and yet rose hundreds of meters toward the sky. It was a gray smudge against a bloodred horizon, where the rust-colored earth touched the azure-blue sky. Banners and flags shot straight out like arrows as bursts of wind came up unexpectedly like a beast roused from slumber by a sudden sound.
Hikaru circled, finding the jagged stain of the canyon landings, flat smoothed stone waiting for them to land. The wind whistled past his ears and he felt the two men behind him starting awake from their uneasy slumber.
"I hope you had a nice, comfy little ride... just don't fall off. Wouldn't do to turn into a big messy splat on the canyon floor!!" he called into the wind. He felt Ansem's hands dig into his belt again as the wind buffed them suddenly to one side. The black dragon wheeled, slowing down as they angled toward a landing around thirty meters in diameter. They were almost completely stopped, the dragon straining against the wind, judging the distance before suddenly folding its broad wings tightly and dropping to the landing with a whoosh of air.
Ansem cried out, smacking into Hikaru's back while Sephiroth nearly flew over both of their heads altogether if he hadn't caught hold of a riding strap that was already cutting into Hikaru's thigh. He hung there for a few seconds, before letting go and standing up. There was little room for words - the air roared past them as though it were a windtunnel, nearly blinding them with bits of grit and sand.
Ansem fell off second, sore, caught by Sephiroth. Hikaru undid the riding straps and slowly made his way down, only to be knocked slightly into the dragon's shoulder by another gust. He pointed, his mouth moving. They saw the door, marked by a pair of torches with a long stone archway leading towards it.
He followed them to it. The roar of wind was lessened in the archway, but he still had to speak a little louder. "You're not really that loved here. I can handle it, though... but I can only do so much, understand?"
Sephiroth glared at him, silent. Ansem jutted his chin out. "Are we supposed to be thankful?"
Hikaru matched his stare. He turned, shoving the heavy wooden door open with his shoulder. After it shut behind them, it was painfully quiet in the echoing hall that greeted them. Gray-green marble beneath their feet, gilded doors, green-gold draperies.
The fiend's step was quick. The pair followed as best as they could, still numb and sore from riding that damnable dragon for so long. Their footsteps hushed and whispered, bouncing back to them until they reached the end of the hall. Hikaru threw open the doors and faced the long rows of tables, filled up with people and accusatory faces, some apprehensive.
"There appears to have been some kind of misunderstanding, Hikaru," said a sneering voice from the head of a table on a riser. "When the Counsel told you the trial was meant for tomorrow evening, we meant tomorrow evening."
Hikaru felt his lip twitch. But he forced himself to sweep his hands out, palms toward the sky as he bowed forward. "Forgive me," he muttered, his voice projecting throughout the hall. "But I think... that these are not the men you wanted. I understand that the trial is tomorrow eve, but I merely wanted to make it clear that there is some new...evidence proving otherwise."
The man that had spoken before, with frosty white hair, some dark slate gray hair near the hairline, pulled back into a neat bun, cleared his throat. "Pardon my rudeness... you must have had a long and arduous flight, Hikaru. And you, to succeed Vati Sorin! I have forgotten mself... please. We will talk more of this later... if indeed you think these are the wrong men, then I should like to meet them."
"Indeed you will, Master Segram. Counsel." Hikaru bowed again, and retreated into the hall.
The two prisoners waited. He had expected them to attempt an escape. Instead they watched with baleful, tired eyes. Hikaru felt a moment's tinge of pity and sadness, before a cold jealousy stole over him when he noted Sephiroth's hand protectively clasped Ansem's elbow.
"Well, then," Hikaru choked out, gritting his teeth in a grimace of a smile. "You're both very tired! Come.... rooms, hm?"
One hallway, several doors, and a brief elevator ride later took them to the finely furnished, heavily guarded quarters for guests. Hikaru strongly wanted to seperate them again... Ansem was needed elsewhere, and soon... the man already felt the pangs of pain, the urgent call of the Source commanding the final act that was needed for it to take effect.
Sephiroth and Ansem would not concede to being seperated. AGAIN, for that matter. Hikaru stood, facing the both of them who were solidly certain that they were sticking together. Not that it would do them much good.
"I don't have a choice," Hikaru said softly. He folded his arms over his chest, a trailing piece of his bangs falling across one shining yellow eye. "I have no choice at all. I'm... sorry."
A cutting laugh escaped Sephiroth. It was a brutal, broken breaking of glass. Ansem seemed startled by it, and was at once worried. He watched him intensely while Seph tucked his hands into his pockets, chuckling.
"He's sorry...? You're sorry?" the tall, crazed man repeated in sincere wonder. "Since when have you been sorry... for anything, Hikaru?" He lifted his blazing eyes, filled with a devil's hate, quivering as though it were only barely contained. "You torment us... you hurt us, you taunt us, you mock us... you hurt, maim, kill, slaughter, crush everything you come into contact with, devour every trace of hope, extinguish every light... and now, here, as we've come this far..."
Hikaru regarded him calmly, oddly detached from the man's feverish speech. He felt the cold jealousy melt into cold loathing. He did not know where to direct it, but it sank there and kept him silent with no biting interruption, no smart remarks to make.
The man sprang toward Hikaru, jarring him out of his empty-headed daze and his eyes actually widened in alarm, opening his mouth to cry out but barely getting a squeak past his windpipe, which was now being crushed. Sephiroth crouched over him, leaning his weight, with every ounce of strength in his body, slowly pressing him into the wall. Spittle flew from his mouth. A demon rose to the surface, an uncompromising animal, a nonnegotiable obelisk of rage - this demon wanted to squeeze the very spiritual essence out of Hikaru, obliterate it and burn it, burn it into small particles of absolutely nothing.
Ansem screamed out again, snarling curses as the floor burbled black oily liquid, fresh Heartless seething toward him, humanoid in shape, stretching long branch-like arms out to seize him.
Sephiroth threw his head up to steal a backward glance before smashing Hikaru down again, cracking the marble. Glowing green liquid oozed from the back of the yellow-eyed man's skull, pooling around his hair.
"CALL THEM OFF!! SEND THEM AWAY OR I'LL RIP YOUR UNSUFFERABLE HEAD OFF!!" Sephiroth roared. HIs blood burned, whooshed in his ears and deafening him to reason. Hikaru was struggling to speak, but no, more excuses, he was babbling stupid nonsense like a madman.
The Heartless vanished, dragging Ansem through the floor with them until they were gone. Hikaru blacked out. Long seconds of agony rendered his senses to flailing ribbons, before he could see again. When he opened his eyes again, the hall was tinged green, the walls and doors warped beyond comprehension.
He cursed, shivering in spite of himself as he watched the burning torch of Sephiroth's spirit, echoed in this realm, perch like a phantom over the Hikaru's own 'corpse'. He knew that it wasn't so in the material realm, that it would be seconds, or maybe minutes, ago that this scene occured.
He phased back again. Sephiroth was gone, but the floor by the wall was cracked with spider-web fractures lining everywhere. His senses buzzed and he reacted only seconds before Sephiroth flew overhead, landing in a crouch in front of him.
"STOP!!" Hikaru shouted, and at once felt ridiculously stupid for doing so. Sephiroth swung around and the walls rumbled with the sound of his growl. He stood up and started toward him, shaking with restraint but with meticulously practiced patience. Hikaru scooted backwards, magic tingling slowly along his arms, on his tongue. He was paralyzed in a sense... Sephiroth would not stop. His hatred was like a putrid pool, a waterfall of pollution fueling it... as much as he spent his rage, the waterfall would fill it continuously. It was neverending... the cycle would continue, perpetual, a paradoxial insanity that had made the sky fall on a world that lived to tell of its legacy for years to come.
